The Terror (1938 film)

The Terror
Directed byRichard Bird
Written byWilliam Freshman
Based onThe Terror
by Edgar Wallace
Produced byWalter C. Mycroft
Starring
CinematographyWalter J. Harvey
Edited byLionel Tomlinson
Music byMarr Mackie
Production
company
Distributed byAssociated British Picture Corporation
Release date
  • 19 August 1938 (1938-08-19)
Running time
73 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£22,552[1]

The Terror is a 1938 British crime film directed by Richard Bird and starring Wilfrid Lawson, Linden Travers and Bernard Lee.[2] It was based on the 1927 play The Terror by Edgar Wallace (which was adapted from Wallace's 1926 novelThe Black Abbot). The play had previously been adapted as the American film The Terror(1928).[3]

Plot

A group of criminals carry out a daring robbery of an armoured van. Two of the criminals are betrayed by the mastermind of the operation. After ten years in prison, they come out and search for the man behind the crimes who betrayed them. But the police are on their tail also wanting to find out who was behind the robbery.

Production

It was shot at Elstree Studios with sets designed by the art director Cedric Dawe.

Cast

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "A first class film of its type: excellent craftsmanship and attention to detail combined with superb cutting. Acting of a very high order and dialogue far above general standard. An entertainment film of great merit."[4]

Leslie Halliwell said: "Stilted remake of [The Terror (1928)]."[5]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "good", writing: "Very little subtelty but plenty of suspense."[6]

References

  1. ^ Chapman, Llewella. "'The highest salary ever paid to a human being': Creating a Database of Film Costs from the Bank of England". Journal of British cinema and television, 2022-10. Vol. 19, no. 4. Edinburgh University Press. p. 470-494 at 480.
  2. ^ "The Terror". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  3. ^ Goble, Alan (1999). The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110951943.
  4. ^ "The Terror". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 5 (49): 132. 1 January 1938 – via ProQuest.
  5. ^ Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 1000. ISBN 0586088946.
  6. ^ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 158. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.


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